Speak Out Safely

We (West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust) are committed to reassuring
our staff and volunteers that any concerns they may have will be addressed
in an honest and transparent way and that employees who raise a concern will
not be at risk of losing their job or suffering any detriment.

We have signed up to a national campaign aimed at ensuring NHS staff can
raise any concerns they may have about patient safety without fear of
reprisals. We fully support the principles of the Nursing Times’ call
for Speak Out Safely which was launched in the wake of the Francis report
into events at Mid Staffordshire hospitals. This means we encourage any
staff member who has a genuine patient safety concern to raise this within
our organisation at the earliest opportunity.

Details of how our staff are supported when they raise genuine concerns
are available in our
whistle-blowing
policy.

Our Chief Nurse is Jackie Ardley. She said: “As you would expect,
delivering high quality safe patient care is our number one priority and we
believe our staff are best placed to identify where care may be falling
below the standards our patients deserve. As such, we want every member of
staff to feel able to raise concerns with their line manager, or another
member of the management team.

“We want our staff to know that we support them and that we will not
tolerate any harassment or criticism of employees who raise a genuine
concern under our whistle-blowing policy.

“We were extremely privileged to have Julie Bailey as our key note
speaker at our recent leadership conference (September 2013). Author of
From Ward to Whitehall (the story of Julie’s mum’s care at Mid-Staffordshire
hospitals) and founder of Cure the
NHS, Julie was instrumental in campaigning for, and getting a public
Inquiry into the events at Mid-Staffordshire, led by Robert Francis, QC.
Her captivating story and remarkable example of ‘speaking out’ demonstrates
the absolute importance of staff raising concerns about patients safety.

“We hope our support of the Nursing Times Speak Out Safely campaign
provides further reassurance to our patients, staff and volunteers that we
support a culture of openness, honesty and transparency.”

Our public pledge to the Speak Out Safely principles states:

SOS Pledge

This trust supports the Nursing Times Speak Out Safely campaign. This means we encourage any staff member who has a genuine patient safety concern to raise this within the organisation at the earliest opportunity.

Patient safety is our prime concern and our staff are often best placed to identify where care may be falling below the standard our patients deserve. In order to ensure our high standards continue to be met, we want every member of our staff to feel able to raise concerns with their line manager, or another member of the management team. We want everyone in the organisation to feel able to highlight wrongdoing or poor practice when they see it and confident that their concerns will be addressed in a constructive way.

We promise that where staff identify a genuine patient safety concern, we shall not treat them with prejudice and they will not suffer any detriment to their career. Instead, we will support them, fully investigate and, if appropriate, act on their concern. We will also give them feedback about how we have responded to the issue they have raised, as soon as possible.

It is not disloyal to colleagues to raise concerns; it is a duty to our patients. Misconduct or malpractice should never be tolerated, while mistakes and poor practice may reveal a colleague needs more training or support, or that we need to change systems or processes. Your concerns will be dealt with in an open and supportive manner because we rely on you to ensure we deliver a safe service and ensure patient safety is not put at risk. We also want this organisation to have the confidence to admit to mistakes and to use them as learning opportunities.

Whether you are a permanent employee, an agency or temporary staff member, or a volunteer, please speak up when you feel something is wrong. We want you to be able to Speak Out Safely.

Petition

Whistle-blowing Policy

West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust is committed to achieving the highest
possible standards of quality, openness and accountability in all of its practices. To achieve
these aims the Trust welcomes staff raising their concerns about health care, safety,
malpractice, fraud or damage to the environment. The Trust also encourages its staff to use
internal mechanisms to report any illegal acts or omissions by employees or ex-employees. Details of how Trust staff are supported when they raise genuine concerns are
available in the Trust's
Whistle-blowing policy
- v8.